


Loving Tourniquet

by SasstrianPrissess



Category: Rune Factory (Video Games), Rune Factory 4
Genre: Angst, Denial, forgotten
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-04
Updated: 2014-10-17
Packaged: 2018-02-21 11:46:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2467124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SasstrianPrissess/pseuds/SasstrianPrissess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is just a small tri-series of ficlets that I came up with. There will only be three chapters...or so I plan, more MAY come when I and you least expect it. Angsty snippets of forgotten denial featuring Rune Factory characters. Enjoy~</p>
            </blockquote>





	Loving Tourniquet

**Author's Note:**

> Each chapter is a song that inspired the pairing.

**Doug’s POV (Song: Seremedy - No Escape)**

_It was only one refusal…_

Frey came into the store early that spring morning, boundlessly full of energy. She had a happy, endearing smile upon her lips that made her waif-like body all the more beautiful. As usual, she would approach me, shyly touching my shoulder as I was sitting at the table finishing off the rice I had for breakfast. I remember smiling up at her like the dope that I was, rushing to swallow as much of the rice I had currently stuffed into my mouth. She was patient, giggling even as she gently reached forward to pluck off a single grain of rice from the corner of my mouth. That soft, rosy blush colored her cheeks as she meekly brought up the rice she had picked off my face towards her own, delicately pouting mouth. She knew I was watching, she knew it, which is why she then allowed her small pink tongue to peek out from between her barely parted lips to accept the meager offering her thin, deft fingers placed upon her lips.

Inwardly, I accidently inhaled the remainder of the rice that inhabited my mouth initiating a small coughing fit that burned as much as my cheeks did. If anything, I could feel the flame that danced within them flare up to match the rueful color of my hair. All the blood within my body roared as I felt a dangerous serpent coil about my belly and hiss. The rice I had swallowed dropped down to my stomach in a way that felt as if I had swallowed minced up pieces of frozen Hot-Hot fruit. I wonder if she knew what that one, innocent action did to me? After the coughing fit subsided, I let out a soft groan, placing down my chopsticks atop the rice bowl on the table before I turned upon the chair I was sitting on to face her more clearly. Granny, I noticed, had already left down the stairs and I could barely hear the soft noises she made as she arranged stuff down in the shop below.

“Douggie…?”

I could feel myself blink multiple times; shaking the transient illusion my thoughts had strayed into as I gazed into her emerald orbs. My own mouth opened to respond, but then I soon regretted that as I balked at the sound of my husked voice, “Y-yeah?” Her eyes then darted away from mine to study the hard grain of the wood floor.

“About tomorrow…” She began, her eyes darting back up to meet mine as her bottom lip unconsciously slipped into her succulent mouth as she then proceeded to nibble out the rest of her sentence onto the lips I so wanted to press against mine, “Would you…like to go somewhere with me?”

‘Tomorrow…tomorrow was Friday, one of my days off…she planned this perfectly’ I thought, momentarily rolling the sweetness behind her foresight in a lazy manner around my head, but before I could think to give an appropriate answer, to my horror, my mouth was moving again, “Hmm… Tomorrow’s not gonna work. Sorry. Some other time, maybe.”

‘No! No you damn idiot! No, No, No!!!’ I wanted to scream, claw at the words to swallow them back up, shove them back down my throat and never let them anywhere near Frey’s ears. However, it was not meant to be, she had heard them before I had time to murder whatever cursed demon made me speak out such hurtful words. Nervously, I bit down hard on my tongue; the splitting pain caused tiny, burning prickles at the corners of my eyes for such an action. I then released my injured tongue once I had begun to taste the faintest hint of copper and iron mixing with my saliva.

The pain I had purposefully induced upon myself was incomparable to the pain I saw flitting in a sad, hollowed echo within her eyes. She looked like she was on the verge of tears, I could tell because she then flicked her gaze once more down to the ground in a hurried manner. I inwardly flinched, slowly raising my right hand to touch her. Her form trembled, wavering as if an ephemeral wind could crumble her existence to dust. My hand needed to touch her, reach for her, just do something to assure her and to stop the sadness I had inflicted carelessly upon her innocent joy.

“Li’l Frey…?” My voice choked, cracking as its undesired timbre was heard within the empty air that stood between us. I hadn’t managed to touch her yet, however her head snapped up with a charming smile as she acknowledged me. A soft, whimsical giggle left her trembling throat as she spoke.

“Huh, uh…I, u-um, r-remembered that I…uh have something to do tomorrow,” She stuttered chokingly, stepping backwards in the direction of the stairs that led down to the General Store, “I-I’m sorry for suggesting something I had no time for…” She then trailed off, suddenly bolting downstairs as if she were trying to escape some horrendous monster that couldn’t be defeated.

I heard the faint tinkle of the shop’s bell as the door was pulled open, as well as the harsh slamming of it as the heavy wood scrapped against its frame. My jaw trembled as I sucked on my teeth, inhaling deep breaths as my right hand had reached its wanted destination only to have my fingers clutch upon ghostly air that tingled faintly with the fading breath of the girl that ran away from me. For what must have been an eternity, I sat like that, unsure of what just took place, wondering if this was simply a nightmare that happened as I dozed off as usual while standing behind the shop’s counter. It wouldn’t be unusual to wake from this dream; I…was going to wake up, right?

The chirping ring of the shop alarm rang in the empty silence, startling me as I blinked uneasily at my surroundings. I was still sitting at the breakfast table, my arm stiff from simply hanging out in the air before me. My hand dropped back into my lap limply, I gazed down at it as the clutched fingers unfurled to show how empty the thing it had caught.

“Hey, midget!”

I sat bolt upright, my stupor forgotten as my ears then picked up the sound of stomping footsteps that ascended the stairs. The next moment, a bright gleam of silver caught my gaze as tufted black preceded it. Right at the top of the stairs peeked a frustrated Dylas, the irritated scowl indicative of the unpleasant mood he was in from having to come personally fetch me on top of having to deal with me so early in the morning.

“Of course, you would be stuffing your face,” The horse guardian snorted, his fist curled tightly against his hip as if he were itching to punch the daylights out of me, “Hurry up and get your ass downstairs and get to work. I’m already late enough with purchasing today’s vegetables because of your laziness.”

“Shut up,” I scowled, stretching as I picked up the dirty breakfast dishes and deposited them in the sink with the intention of washing them the first break I got, “and I’m not late.” I added, hoping to irritate the already angry rune guardian.

“Tch, it’s going to be ten in fifteen minutes,” Dylas snarled, squaring his jaw as if debating whether or not to spit more upon my already stuporic mood, “This damn store opens at nine and you already made me wait forty-five minutes just to buy the shitty vegetables for Porco’s restaurant. Now hurry your ass before I nail your sorry hide next to Arthur’s glasses collection.

I wasn’t going to fight him, he, among everyone else in Selphia, especially Frey, had every right to be angry with me. Out of all things he said to me though, the one thing he couldn’t be more right about though was how sorry I was. I could feel it eating away at me as I unconsciously stopped and stood midway between him and the place where I saw the sickening scene take place not too long ago.

“Hey, are you even paying attention? I said hurry up!” Dylas growled, quickly closing the distance between us. The fist that had patiently waited by his side rose up and eagerly collided with my cheek, knocking me back off my feet with the sheer force held behind his punch. From that one hit, I could tell he didn’t care nor want to hold back. My cheek throbbed pitifully, swelling a bit as I tasted blood from where the inside of my cheek was sliced open by my teeth. My hand rose to protectively cover the injury, the heat emanating from it was incredible upon my fingertips.

I blinked several times; my left eye was showing tiny, hazy flecks of purple and blue as I was forced to crane my neck to stare up at Dylas’ towering form, “What the fuck was that for, you swayback gelding?!” I spat, slowly rising to my feet as the rune guardian’s fist flexed as if itching to collide with my face again. His eyes narrowed as a hissed breath was drawn in, he looked like he was fighting within himself to leave me be with that one punch or rain down a million more until his knuckles were sated with my blood stains kissing his tanned skin.

“Get downstairs, total my purchases; then get the fuck out of my sight.” Dylas instructed in slow, measured breaths, glaring down at me with pure hate boiling behind his amber orbs. With that said, he swiftly turned upon his heel, stomping down the wooden steps as he descended to the main floor.

Rage boiled within my veins as I watched his retreating form. Grudgingly I followed him down to the shop, gritting my teeth against the pain my face felt. Once inside the shop, I noticed that he had piled a selective quantity of high quality vegetables atop the small counter. I then realized that I recognized those vegetables, those were the one’s Frey shipped out at the peak of ripeness. ‘They were Frey’s…Frey touched them…Frey cared for…Frey raised…’

“…Frey…” I breathed the remainder of my thought, staring at the vegetables while Dylas took out a pouch featuring the De’Saint Coquille insignia from his waist pouch.

“What about her?” The horse guardian questioned, tapping irritatedly upon the wooden surface uncovered by his purchases as I rushed to put the vegetables into a sack and out of my sight.

“N-nothing,” I muttered, counting out the total gold coins from the hefty pouch and placing the amount into a small lock box beneath the counter.

“Hmph,” He snorted, picking up the bagged vegetables after returning the money pouch to the one he wore at his waist and hoisted the sack over his left shoulder. Just as he was about to open the shop door, he turned slightly to face me as I continued to stare down at the now bare countertop, “You don’t deserve her, you know that, right?” He growled out delicately, pulling open the wooden door shortly afterwards and swiftly leaving the store. The tinkling bell announced his departure a few seconds too late, trapping my soft reply within the suffocating emptiness that echoed back to haunt my ears.

“I know…”


End file.
